Roadtrip Mischief
November 26, 2008
When Rob and I were on the roadtrip we had some “interesting” conversations along the way. I laugh thinking about them and so decided to share the laughter and weirdness. Me being the smartass that I am decided to test Rob’s patience with me. Here are some examples. Enjoy~
S: Are we there yet? 
R: No…
S: How about now?
R: No…
S: Now?
R: No….
S: NOW???
R: NO! 
S: Why not? Is it THAT far?
R: Honey….you knew this is going to take 6 hours..
S: Ok…
S: How far are we?
R: Honey….we’ve only been driving AN HOUR!!!
S: Oh ok….
*******************************************************
S: Ummm are we there yet?
R: No…
S: *sigh* Why not?
R: Cos it’s far away 
S: How far?
R: Ask me in another 5 hours
S: But I wanna know now
R: Eat your gummi bears
S: I did, see? *shows empty container* 
R: No kidding 
*******************************************************
S: How much farther? 
R: We still have a third of the way to go
S: We’ve been driving a long time!
R: Yeah…
S: Why does it take so long? 
R: Cos we keep stopping
S: Oh…then don’t stop so much
R: We stopped because you want to take pictures!
S: Oh…ok…then don’t stop for my pictures
R:
*******************************************************
Yes, that’s right. I’m that immature and weird. Yes, we are a couple of juvenile delinquents, but hey, we’re proud of it.
MOA: Epilogue
October 28, 2008
The night before we left MOA, we decided to try a restaurant that I have been quite curious about ever since Rob told me about it years ago. Since I didn’t try it the first time I was in the US, I thought it would be nice to buy Rob a good dinner, like a VERY early or late birthday dinner, depending on how you see it. Heh (His birthday is in January by the way).
The restaurant is called Rainforest Cafe.
What’s so special about this place is the decor. Everything is based on the rainforest. They even have fake rain and thunder while you dine, with added sound effects of animals like monkeys, lions, birds etc. They have aquariums…
They have huge parrots…
Heck, they even have an alligator swamp.
UNFORTUNATELY, Rob and I had a terrible waitress. I think her name is Jessie. Her service was disgustingly bad. It almost ranks right up there with MFM. The place was packed that night but we got a table in about 15 minutes, which was not that bad.
Before the food disaster
He’s just so adorable!
We ordered fried calamari as an appetizer. Rob went to the bathroom while I waited for our food. Fifteen minutes or so later, some guy came with the calamari. I sat and stared at the calamari because no one had given us any eating silverware (fork & knife). When Rob came back from the bathroom (about a few minutes later), we still had no silverware. The calamari looked dry and didn’t seem warm at all.
Eventually Jessie came over to check on our food, and we requested silverware and then she FINALLY brought us some. That took almost five minutes itself. I mean, how long can it take for you to go to the working station, grabbed a couple sets of silverware and bring it to the customers? I decided to let it go. I took a bit at the calamari and it was COLD and soggy. Rob disliked it too. We waved to Jessie and told her about it.
Guess what she did? She stands next to me, one hand on her hip, the other on the back of my chair, looking down at us like we did something wrong and said “So what do you want me to do about it?” Rob and I looked at each other, shocked. Then Rob said “This is cold, how do you expect us to eat this?” Her response was “Well it’s cold because it’s been sitting there so long to which I looked at her in disbelief and said “Yeah, cause we had NO SILVERWARE to eat it”. Rob then proceeded to tell her we would like a new batch of calamari.
She takes the lousy calamari and comes back in less than 5 minutes and say “Here, there just came out of the fryer”. How is that possible? One, it doesn’t take 2 minutes to fry calamari and two, even if it was “just out of the fryer” it would’ve burnt my tongue when I ate it. We presumed that what she did was throw the plate in the microwave and heated it up, which explained why the calamari was so tough to bite on.
That wasn’t the only thing that pissed us off. Rob ordered a hamburger and asked for fries as opposed to the potato chips. But it came with potato chips. We let her know of her mistake and she went off, came back with a plate of french fries that were again “fresh from the fryer”. Funny, it was just warm, not burning hot, NOT just out of the fryer.
I ordered some form of pasta which Jessie highly recommended because “it’s SO GOOD”. I was disappointed. It wasn’t that good at all. More spicy and oily than anything as you can see.
The meal costed about USD60, with tax and tip and all. Nonetheless I was really unhappy, not because it was pricey but because the service sucked and the food was just borderline “ok”. It wasn’t great food, it wasn’t tongue-twisting delicious. It was just edible, for the lack of other terms. Rainforest Cafe at MOA really isn’t as good after all. (Note: Found out Jessie “no longer works” there when the manager of that location called to apologize for the lousy service and food after Rob emailed and blasted them. We got the money refunded! HAHAHA)
The next morning, we went back to MOA for one last run. Actually, my last run. Heh
Ahhhhhhhhhhh…pure satisfaction as I left MOA but at the same time…
Sad to be leaving because I still could not get enough of MOA. 
At the parking bay
Then I asked to camwhore outside MOA, so Rob drove us to the front entrance of MOA.
MOA at the palm of my hand
It was really windy outside the mall. Here’s how windy it was.
Then what followed was Rob and I trying to camwhore together. After many attempts, this was probably the best picture we could take, with the sun glaring on our eyes, and the wind blowing in our face, which explains our hair and Rob’s squinting eyes. I was wearing shades. 
And we were off on our journey to Rockford. We spent a couple nights there and visited the Anderson Japanese Garden (which I probably will blog about next).
We didn’t take the scenic route on the way back because it looked as if it was going to rain. As you can see from the picture below, we were driving towards the gray clouds.
Half sunny, half cloudy
Even though we didn’t take the scenic route, there were some nice views along the way to Rockford. I know I’ve said this a gazillion times (maybe less 
) but I love seeing the countryside, with the farms, fields and lushes trees. Something about them gives me this feeling of serenity. It was a plus that I got to see some sheep grazing.
As nightfall approached and my contant whining drove Rob insane we stopped at a town (which I totally forgot the name) for dinner. We ate at Perkins Restaurant! If you remembered from my previous post, I did take a picture of a Perkins Restaurant in Winona but the one we ate at was another location.
As we were seated in our booth, I noticed a man in a blue shirt and long hair. He looked up at me and smiled. I politely smiled back. We were seated a few feet from where he was standing. It looked as if he was shaping a balloon animal. Curious, I stalked continued to watch what he was doing. Then our waitress told us that it was Kids’ Nights at Perkins and that there was an entertainer in the restaurant.
He glanced up and saw me watching him, while I shyly looked away. LOL I didn’t want to seem rude from staring at him. Then I looked at him again, while he was shaping a long red balloon into a heart. I thought it was cute and told Rob to look. He turned around and this guy was just going crazy with the balloon. Within a minute, he had finished his task.
He walked over to us and presented me with the balloon. I was pleasantly surprised!
By the way, that’s Apricot salmon with mash potatoes, corn, and bread
So cute right? Rob later on commented that it was weird that the guy knew to make a PINK flower with a HEART, of which I both love.
Don’t quite remember his name
Anyway, this guy proceeded to give us a personal magic show. I didn’t mange to take a video of it because I was still in awe over the balloon thing. Heh
I remembered inspecting the rubber bands, and they were perfectly normal rubber bands. He somehow looped them together into a chain. (Rob had a rubberband too.) He also did some other magic tricks, which got Rob and myself dumbfounded! All that came outta our mouths were “What the!” or “How did you do that!?!?” or “Holy crap!” etc etc (you get the gist). Essentially we both looked like this: 
Magic rubberbands
This is me satisfied after a great meal with great entertainment. The apricot salmon was DELICIOUS!!!! Don’t worry guys, I will do the food post in due time. Patience my little minions.
And of course, a must after every meal. We camwhore at least once.
Love you baby! 
Nickelodeon Universe @ MOA
October 23, 2008
*This will just be more of a photo post lah. Busy with my thesis.*
As I have said a few entries ago, MOA is so big it has its own theme park. Nickelodeon Universe @ MOA is also the largest indoor theme park in the US.
It has tons of cool rides but of course, very overpriced. So what did cheapo me do? I just walked around the theme park and snapped pictures. Lol
LOVE the pink shorts Spongebob is wearing. HEH
Wishing I was a kid again so I can justify going on the pretty carousel
Dora Ferris Wheel
For as how much I love going on ferris wheels, I didn’t go on this one because I knew I would be going on the one at Navy Pier, which is like 5 times bigger! (Will blog about that soon enough, bear with me.)
This next ride looked really cool. The SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge. This roller coaster does spirals and intense loops by the looks of it. I happened to caught the rollercoaster doing some rounds around the theme park.
The 90-degree turn
Spiral loop
Then from afar I saw something very familiar. A pineapple. Not just any pineapple but the pineapple from “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!!!
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!!!
Stupid Kid in the way
Spongebob was having pictures taken with kids. To be honest I would have loved to get a picture with Spongebob but I know, I know. I’m too “old” for that kinda stuff. So I stalked Spongbob from afar, trying to get a good shot of him. There were lots of kids queueing up to get their pictures taken so in the end, I zoomed in and got this picture.
Still more stupid kids in the way
Spongebob staring at me with those huge eyes and long lashes. (Just ignore the kids’ arms/hands/partial body and I think it’s a pretty good shot.)
Nickelodeon Universe also has a on-site store and is the largest Nickelodeon Store in the world.
You can get just about anything Nickelodeon in this store but of course, again, it’s all overpriced to high hell. 
When it gets darker outside, the theme park is lit up with colourful lights. (Pictures taken the night before I took the day pictures above.)
There are tons more rides that I probably didn’t snap pictures of because we were getting ready to leave that afternoon, so time was limited. Plus I had wanted to shop a *little* bit more before leaving the shopping heaven. LOL I’m glad I did though cause I scored a couple good bargains at Nordstrom.
I SHOPPING!
P/S I get the feeling this post is so boring. Er…hopefully I’ll have more time to work on the next post.
Underwater Adventures Aquarium @ MOA
October 14, 2008
*Tons of pictures ahead. I suggest you let the page load and go grab a cuppa*
When we first talked about road tripping to MOA, I was excited to visit the aquarium since the last time I visited one was when I was about 8 years old in New Zealand’s Kelly Tarltons Underwater World. I still have a photo of myself covering my eyes cause I was scared of the shark swimming above me. But after checking the price of tickets per entry, we decided it was a bit overpriced also because cheapo me didn’t want to pay lah.
But a month or so before I was scheduled to arrive, Rob bought the entrance tickets at a cheaper price through a radio station shopping show. Needless to say I was uber happy! Because I’m a lazyass, I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking for this post. =P
Koi fishes
Baby gators
The stingray smilling for the camera
Loggerhead sea turtle
Sharks
By the way, a 6 year old would know the names of the creatures in the aquarium more than I do so I’ll try my best to identify what is what.
Saw fish
More shark
Oysters anyone?
Piranhas
Meet Rocky, the gigantic 17lbs lobster. I remember at one point Rob had to pull me away from the tank because he knew what I was thinking. SEVENTEEN LBS of lobster meat! DINNER!!!! 
Starfish
This next picture is probably one of my favourite pictures from the aquarium. It really captured the essense of the aquarium, which are the sharks (of course) and the lighting is perfect, at least for me. As if I am some professional photographer eh?
Look at those teeth!
Another picture I love. DORY!!! You cannot imagine how many shots I had to take of this fish before I finally got this one. Perfection! I love it! I have to say here that while I was taking pictures of this fish, Rob was laughing his ass off. Why? Because all I kept saying was “STAY! DORY STAY! STAAAAAAYYYYY…” The fish was just swimming around, ignoring me. Grrrrr.
Now contratry to popular belief, this species is not a Dory. This fish is ONLY known as Dory in the movie “Finding Nemo”. The actual name for this species of fish is “regal tang”.
Nemo the clownfish
Pretty seahorses
At the end of the aquarium was a strategically located souvenir store. I didn’t buy anything cause it was all overpriced but something caught my eye.
A toy lobster! Therefore, camwhoring is VITAL!
Just when I thought the tour of the aquarium was over, I was surprised to see that they actually have a pool for visitors to pet baby sharks and stingrays, called the Circle of Life. I was a little hessitant at first because, frankly, I love my fingers and hair. I don’t need a baby shark to bite of my fingers, nor a stingray to electrocute me, causing my hair to get curly and poofie. Rob was hessitant too but in the end we both tried it anyway because it was free and you knowlah I am a cheapo.
Petting baby shark
The stingray felt very smooth to the touch. As I stroke the back I thought I was going to feel guilty for all those times I ate BBQ sambal stingray. Instead in my head I was going “MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA I ATE MANY OF YOUR FRIENDS!” Then I realized that if I had said it out, I probably would’ve gotten a new hair do on the way out of the aquarium. Glad I didn’t say it out loud.
With Sharkey (how creative) the mascot
One last picture before leaving
The Underwater Adventures Aquarium was fun but when I think back I wouldn’t have been very happy if I had to pay for a full priced ticket which is at USD18.95 and that’s excluding tax. Thanks for scoring those tickets baby! MUAH! 
Roadtrip Part 2
October 2, 2008
It took us about 5 hours before we reached the border of Minnesota but we still had quite a ways to go before reaching MOA. We crossed a bridge and there was THE sign.
Minnesota welcomes you!
At this point I was really happy and excited while Rob was really close to throwing me into the river we were crossing. HEH Here’s why…
S: We’re in Minnesota!!!!
R: Yes we are
S: So where is the Mall of America?
R: Ummm honey, we just reached the border.
S: I know, we’re in Minnesota!
R: MOA is a third of the way up the state
S: Oh ok, that’s not too bad. How far are we?
R: Pretty far…
S: Ok….how long of a drive left?
R: 3 or 4 hours
S: What?! But we’re in Minnesota!
R: …….
(Ten or fifteen minutes later….)
S: Are we there yet?
R: No…
S: How about now?
R: No…
S: Now?
R: No
S: NOW????????
R: NO!!!!!!!!
S: Why not?
R:
Repeat the above conversations, oh let’s say about 10 times, throughout the journey. I’m sure at SOME point Rob would’ve driven off a cliff somewhere. Lol.
It should be noted that I’m actually not THAT annoying. I was having some fun and trying to make Rob laugh because most of the time he had the look going as he was concentrating on the driving. All I wanted was to get a from him.
The scenic, although longer, route took us across the Mississippi River. That was the whole purpose of the scenic route.
Side note from Rob “The first time we crossed the river, you didn’t get the pictures you wanted. So I drove back to Wisconsin for a couple minutes, turned around and crossed the bridge again so you can have your pictures, remember???”
Heh, thanks honey. I owe you one.
The view after the bridge was so breathtaking that even the pictures doesn’t do much justice.
One of the many dams along the Mississippi River
We stopped so many times during the first hour or so on this track across the Mississippi River, one of the longest rivers in the United States and fourth longest in the world. I remember reading somewhere that it runs through like 10 states.
On a highway lookout stop
Oh so pretty!
Not so pretty but must camwhore a bit lah!
Along the Mississippi River are naturally formed and man-made lakes. Lake Pepin is a naturally occuring lake and the largest lake on the river. After reading up some information about it on Wikipedia, I’ve been zooming in my pictures to see if I caught a lake “monster”. Apparently, there have been sightings of Pepie, a version of the Loch Ness Monster throughout the years in that lake.
Anyway, no such luck lah. Thought that if I did capture a picture of Pepie, I could make some money selling the picture to a magazine or something and be rich! 
Lake Pepin
We stopped by a town called Winona for a quick bite at McDonald’s. At this point I remember asking Rob, “Are we going to get to MOA in time before the stores close? I wanna go shopping!”. Of course he laughed at my eagerness to shop and I also remember him using that against me.
S: Oooo let’s stop and take a look here
R: If we keep stopping you’re not gonna get a chance to shop today
S: Oh…ok. Let’s keep going.
R:
We kept driving and driving until we saw this nice little town by a lake a little over an hour later. There were many sailboats on the lake. I couldn’t ressist, we HAD to stop and take some pictures. I think the town is call Lake City. Heh how creative.
I think the most we spent there snapping pictures was about 30 minutes. I would have loved to dip my feet in the water or something but shopping at MOA was my ultimate goal for the day. Ahhh women…Lol
And so about 2 hours later (and after checking in our hotel room), we saw this…
NO not the “Right Turn Lane” sign. Look BEHIND IT, at the humongous building
MALL OF AMERICA!
The journey started at 9am and we arrived at MOA just before 7.30pm. The roadtrip was SUPPOSE to take 6-7 hours but with my constant shenanigans “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? How about now? Now? Are we there yet? How far is it? How long have we been driving?”, “Oooooo! Look at that!” or “STOP!!! Picture op(portunity)!!!” or “Honey, I gotta pee” or “Baby, I’m hungry” or “Ummm I really need to stand up…my ass is killing me!”, it took us about 10 hours. *sheepish grin*
Roadtrip Part 1
September 28, 2008
The day started at 9 am when we piled all our stuff in the car and headed towards Minnesota. We tried to sleep as early as possible the night before but I think we both were too excited about the trip the next day. I know I was.
Rob getting gas AKA petrol
Driving for some thirty minutes, we swung by a rest stop for gas and Burger King for breakfast. Rob introduced me to French Toast Sticks. Apparently he ate a bunch of these when he was a teenager and he told me stories about how he would skip the first class of school JUST to go eat French Toast Sticks. (The rebel!). In his own words “They were the best thing on earth back then!”
And you know what? I agree with him! They are GOOD! If you love French toast like I do, this certainly will tease your tastebuds. I cook my French toast on a pan, Burger King’s French Toast sticks are FRIED!!! OMG they are SO TASTY!
French Toast Sticks dipped in Mapple syrup. YUM!
Pink lemonade for breakfast 😛
Then we off to continue our journey to MOA.
We took the scenic route which was the longer way but it was well worth it. We drove past many farms and little towns. The view was great, I really love the countryside!
Our route cut through Wisconsin and when we reached the Wisconsin Dells area, I saw tons of water parks and resorts around. It looked like a lot of fun but we had a schedule to stick to so we drove on.
The sign says “Wisconsin Welcomes You”
Earlier on in the week, we heard news about Lake Delton in Wisconsin Dells that dried out, like completely dried out. All that was left was mud and stones. So we figured we would take a detour and sneaked in stopped by one of the resorts in Witomy to check it out. I was dumbfounded….
According to Rob (2008) [Practising my citation skills for my thesis, please don’t mind me :P], it’s a man-made lake with an edge very close to a river and the water broke through and emptied in a nearby river. To quote Rob again, “This is what happens when human messes with nature!”
We stopped only for a little while and went on our way. Along the way, we drove past more farms and prairies. It was a sight! I loved it. There were horses and cows and sheep. Very different from the tall buildings and highways, away from civilization. Again I have to say, I love the countryside!
Cool looking rock formation
Last but not least, this is me in the car with a mouth stuffed full of gummi bear candy. 😛 I tried to coax Rob into competing who can have the most gummi bears in their mouth (like we did during my first visit there, roadtripping to Wilmot) but he said it was too early for candy! *GASP* So, in the end I syiok sendiri (entertained myself) lah!
In the mean time, I’m preparing pictures for Part 2!